Magnum Photos Blog

The Daily Gallery 

Abstraction in Photography 

January 28, 2013 
One hundred one years ago today, the innovative abstract expressionist painter, Jackson Pollock, was born.

While the Magnum archive doesn't house any images of Pollock -- most of the great photos of him were taken by the renown photographer-of-artists, Hans Namuth -- his influence, and the influence of the abstract expressionist movement in general, can be traced throughout the history of the collective's work. Sure, Pollock's famously physical creative process couldn't be more different than the clicking the shutter, but the artistic sentiments and aesthetics of abstraction found their way into the photographic medium and have been, in many ways, enormously formative in its evolution.

So today, in celebration of Pollock's birthday, we explore some of the Magnum archive's more compositionally or thematically abstract work. And when you're done checking out the slideshow, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the relationship between painting and photography -- how you see the two mediums interacting in history or even in your own personal work.